Online Press Briefing with Ambassador Julianne Smith U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO

MODERATOR:  (In progress) A quick reminder that today’s briefing is on the record.  And with that, let’s get started.  Ambassador Smith, thanks as always for joining us today.  Over to you for opening remarks.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, thanks so much.  Thanks to the Brussels Media Hub for facilitating this interview.  Happy to speak with all of you today.  It’s going to be a big week.  We’re getting ready to host another NATO foreign ministerial here at the headquarters starting tomorrow.  But this particular foreign ministerial is obviously happening at a very exciting time for the Alliance:  Not only will it overlap with the actual proper 75th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, but we are welcoming our 32nd member of the Alliance – Sweden – to their very first foreign ministerial as a proper, full-fledged member.  And this time, of course, last year I was saying something similar but for Finland, which joined around the April FMM as well.

So it’s very inspiring to see how NATO has modernized, how it continues to adapt, and how it continues to welcome new members – all to the benefit of more than 1 billion citizens living across NATO countries.  Sweden’s membership will certainly make Sweden safer and our Alliance stronger and even more secure.

Now, along with a ceremony marking 75 years of NATO, major NATO anniversaries for many other countries, and Secretary Blinken kicking off the road to the Washington Summit, this week’s foreign ministerial will include a session of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a NUC with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba.  NATO Allies continue to stand with Ukraine, whether through their own bilateral security assistance or NATO’s comprehensive assistance package, or CAP as we call it around here.  The Alliance is committed to seeing Ukraine emerge victorious, and we stand alongside members of the UDCG, or Ukraine Defense Contact Group, continuously seeking ways to provide our friends in Ukraine with what they need on the battlefield.

Along with Ukraine, this ministerial will also hold a session with our Indo-Pacific partners of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.  And we will be looking at a variety of cross-cutting security issues where we each benefit – NATO Allies and our partners – by sharing best practices and information on how we can collectively tackle those shared security challenges.

So with that, I’ll pause here and I am happy to take your questions.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Ambassador.  Why don’t we start with a question from Leonoor Kuijk from ANP in the Netherlands.  They ask:  “Could you please give us an update on the nomination of Mark Rutte or any other possible successor of Secretary General Stoltenberg?”

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Sure thing.  So first and foremost, let me state again how appreciative we are of Jens Stoltenberg’s leadership over 10 years here at NATO Headquarters.  What he has done for this Alliance has been nothing short of remarkable.  His leadership throughout the 10 years has been impressive.  But I would note over the last two years we’ve been especially appreciative and impressed by his leadership during a very complicated period in NATO’s history, obviously, with this major land war that is ongoing in Ukraine.

He will, however, depart the Alliance later this fall.  It’s expected early October he’ll be leaving NATO, and as all of you know, we are in the middle.  We, all of the 32 ambassadors here inside the NATO Alliance, are in the middle of looking at potential successors.  And there are two official candidates.  As you know, we have Mark Rutte from the Netherlands and President Iohannis from Romania.  There is ongoing debate across the Alliance on the qualifications of both of these very impressive leaders, and we will continue to debate the pros and cons of those two individuals until we reach consensus on one of them, hopefully, in the weeks ahead.

We don’t know what the exact timing will be.  Certainly, we want to reach some resolution on this sooner rather than later.  I think at the latest we’d like to see this settled by the Washington Summit.  But that’s probably about all I can say at the moment.  I think you’re well aware that the U.S. position is that we fully back Mark Rutte as the next Secretary General, but we do have deepest respect for our friend President Iohannis as well and we appreciate him throwing his hat in the ring and wish him all the best as we continue to debate this issue across the Alliance.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  Turning now to a question from Dmytro Shkurko from the National News Agency of Ukraine, he asks:  “Do you consider the option when Congress approves the new assistance package for Ukraine as a real one?  Do you think that this will happen?  There was a proposal to provide this assistance package as a loan.  What kind of conditions can Ukraine expect from such a loan?”

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, first and foremost, let me say that we do have an expectation that the supplemental will be passed, hopefully sooner rather than later.  I think you’ve heard President Biden and other members of his cabinet speak about this subject.  We believe this support is absolutely critical.  We believe Ukraine urgently needs this assistance now.  We have a situation where our friends in Ukraine are facing some shortages, and so it’s important that U.S. assistance continues to flow.  We’ve encouraged members of Congress both in the House and the Senate to get moving with the supplemental.  We were relieved to see the strong bipartisan support for it in the Senate, and very much hope that we will see a vote on the floor as soon as possible so that we can get that critical assistance into the hands of our friends in Ukraine on the battlefield.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  Next question from Geert Jan Hahn from BNR Nieuwsradio in the Netherlands.  He asks:  “If Russia keeps – continues to advance in Ukraine in the upcoming months, will this tarnish NATO’s reputation?  What can you do to make sure that the position of Ukraine is not weakening while celebrating the Alliance’s anniversary this week and the NATO summit in Washington?”

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, we don’t spend much time here in the Alliance talking about the prospect of NATO’s reputation being tarnished.  We are focused like a laser on ensuring that the Ukrainians get the support they need so that they can succeed on the battlefield.  That remains our core focus.  We are united in that objective.  And we want to do everything we can in the days and weeks ahead to get them additional assistance.

Now, what you hear from our friends in Ukraine is that their current needs are focused primarily on ammunition and air defense, so that tends to be the focus of our discussions, both in the U.S.-led UDCG and among Allies here in NATO Headquarters.  The way in which that we can ensure that the Ukrainians continue to have the upper hand and see success on the battlefield is to keep that assistance flowing.

Our friends in Europe, in Canada, have been remarkably generous with the assistance that they have provided, whether it’s economic, humanitarian, or military assistance.  We salute all of those efforts, and we continue to work with our friends in Europe and in Canada to ensure that that support will keep flowing.

So that is the focus inside NATO HQ.  I don’t see anyone letting their foot off the gas.  I see countries coming forward with fresh ideas each and every week on what more we can do together for Ukraine, and I expect that that will very much be part of the focus at the ministerial that will start tomorrow.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  We’ll go to a live question now, Alex Raufoglu.  Alex, please go ahead.  Alex, can you hear us?

QUESTION:  Hi, John. Can you hear me now?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can hear you.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Yes.

QUESTION:  Yes, yeah.  Thank you so much.  Ambassador, thank you so much for your time.  I have two quick questions.  On Ukraine, as you know, Russia keeps increasing the targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and there were reports recently that the U.S. was against Ukraine hitting back inside Russia on Russian energy infrastructure.  I was wondering – just wanted to ask you directly that are there any constraints placed upon Ukraine in how Ukraine fights back or takes the fight back into Russia?  I’m asking because there’s a growing sentiment that Ukraine is given enough to survive, but not enough to win.

And my second question – as you know, the Secretary General just returned back from the South Caucasus.  Just wondering if there is anything going to be discussed in upcoming ministerial about South Caucasus.  Thank you so much.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Thank you.  On the question about U.S. views on how – the way in which Ukraine conducts this war or how it’s defending its territory – I mean, first and foremost, let me just re-emphasize that we believe Ukraine has every right to defend its territory against this unprovoked Russian aggression.  And we, the United States, we have already provided upwards of $44 billion U.S. of security assistance to ensure that they can do so effectively.  And as I noted, we’re continuing to encourage our friends in Congress to get the supplemental done so that more support can flow into the hands of Ukrainian military commanders.

In terms of actually going after targets inside Russia, that is something that the United States is not particularly supportive of.  We are focused on Ukrainians’ right to defend its territory and to push Russians out of its territory, where the Ukrainians have had considerable success.  And again, our objective is to help them continue to see those victories on the battlefield.

On the question of the Caucasus, the Secretary General was recently in the region, which was – I know for him – a very important trip.  He was able to visit a couple of different capitals.  And this speaks to the value of NATO partnerships more broadly.  These are all countries that have relationships with the NATO Alliance.  In the case of Georgia, Georgia is one of our closest partners.  Of course, you’ll remember in 2008 we said that both Ukraine and Georgia will become members of the NATO Alliance, and we continue to work with our friends in Georgia on the reforms needed to work towards their membership aspirations.

But there are other countries.  Armenia and Azerbaijan also are looking for ways to deepen their relationship with the NATO Alliance.  This speaks to the value of these partnerships, where not every partner is necessarily seeking membership per se, but many countries around the world find great utility in meeting with NATO Allies to discuss some of our shared security challenges, whether it’s the challenge of disinformation or cyber attacks or maritime security issues.  There are a whole array of topics that we discuss with our partners around the globe, and for our friends in the Caucasus, it’s clear that they find real value in their partnership with the Alliance, and there’s no question in my mind that NATO Allies find value in those partnerships as well.

In terms of whether or not it’ll come up on the margins of the ministerial, I don’t see that as a formal part of the agenda, but we’ll have to see if it comes up on the margins of our discussions over the next two days.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  We’ll go another live question, this time to Sachiyo Sugita from NHK.  Sachiyo, please go ahead.

QUESTION:  Hello.  Thank you very much.  I’d like to – since I’m a reporter from Japan, I’d like to ask how U.S. NATO views (inaudible) of the Indo-Pacific region and Japan’s role in this region.  And also I’d like to ask, are there conversations still going on about the Japan (inaudible) or are you seeking other ways for cooperation?

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, let me first say at the top that increasingly we find – we, NATO – find ourselves engaged in more and more conversations with our partners in the Indo-Pacific because of the shared security challenges that we face.  Just as I noted a few minutes ago, the shared security challenges that we face with our partners in the Caucasus, we find ourselves reaching out to our friends in the Indo-Pacific to talk about the ways in which both the PRC and Russia are relying on a very similar list of hybrid tactics.  We see the PRC and Russia relying on the use of disruptive technology or misinformation, disinformation, both relying on malicious cyber attacks.

So we find tremendous value in opportunities to sit down with our friends in the Indo-Pacific and share those best practices, understand how our friends in the Indo-Pacific are grappling with the challenges posed by the PRC, which in many ways mirror the challenges that allies here in Europe are facing challenges from Russia.

So this is a region that we find ourselves engaging more and more.  As I noted at the top, we will welcome our four Indo-Pacific partners to this ministerial tomorrow and Thursday.  And I wouldn’t at all be surprised to find these four countries at the Washington Summit later this summer in July.

The last thing I’ll say on this particular matter is that one of the ways in which we’re describing kind of the world that NATO is grappling with is “one theater.”  And what we mean by that is that the world cannot necessarily be chopped up into geographic regions, where only Europe or only the Indo-Pacific or only another area of the world is grappling with a particular security challenge.  A lot of the security challenges we face today don’t have any geographic boundaries, which speaks to the need to engage partners around the world on things like cyber security, which aren’t limited to any particular geographic location or region.

So yes, we do find tremendous value.  The signal we’re getting from the Indo-Pacific partners is that they also see tremendous value in this partnership.  And we’re so grateful for the support that some of these countries in the Indo-Pacific are providing to our friends in Ukraine.  And that goes without saying.

On the NLO, we continue to look at a variety of ways to strengthen our partnerships with our friends in the Indo-Pacific, and that’s just one example.  But we’re looking at a whole array of ways in which we can deepen that important partnership.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  We’ll go to one more live question, this time from Kanal 5 TV.  Kanal 5, please go ahead.

QUESTION:  So my question is about the warning that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and U.S. President Biden had, that if Russia advances in Ukraine and Ukraine somehow fails, falls, the next target might be the Balkans.  How serious is this threat?

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, we do consider the Russian threat to the NATO Alliance to be the preeminent threat that we’re grappling with.  If you go back and read the Strategic Concept from 2022, it was no accident that we listed Russia as a direct threat to the Alliance.  So that is what we spend most of our time here across the Alliance, is grappling with this particular threat that Russia poses.

We have also seen many times in history where if a dictator is not stopped, or an authoritarian leader, they keep going.  And that’s why it’s so important that we all help Ukraine push Russia out of its territory and end this unprovoked aggression.  Because if they do not succeed, of course the concern is that Russia will feel compelled to keep going.

Now, that said, what I want to say to our friends in the Baltic states is we do not see an imminent threat to NATO territory, either in the Baltic region or really, frankly, in any region.  But it remains a top concern.  We’ve taken many, many steps over the last two years to enhance deterrence and defense, particularly up and down the eastern flank.  We take the security concerns of our friends in the Baltic states very seriously, and we’re taking active steps to enhance our posture there – more exercises, more training – to ensure that we’re ready for all possible contingencies.  We also have new regional plans in place that will enable us to know exactly what we have to do to protect every inch of NATO territory.

So NATO is not sitting on its hands; it’s not waiting for any possible contingency.  Instead, it’s preparing for all contingencies.  But I don’t want to give our friends in the Baltic states the impression that somehow war is coming to NATO territory overnight.  We take it seriously, but we do not see this to be an imminent threat.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Ambassador.  We have a question now from Valentina Vasileva from VOA news.  Valentina, please go ahead.  Valentina, can you hear us?  You’re muted.  We will move on from Valentina and go to Ana França.  Ana, please go ahead.

QUESTION:  Can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Ana, can you – yes, please go ahead.

QUESTION:  Sorry, I’m asking a question from Portugal, from Expresso newspaper.  I’ve seen other people also asking about this.  There’s been a lot of talk about a mandatory military service being floated again in Portugal, in Spain, and beyond.  And I guess the talk of impending war is making its way a bit.  A few leaders have been raising these questions, not only in Poland and the Baltics, but also Emmanuel Macron, as we know.  He has talked about leaving no options off the table.

So my two questions are:  How serious do you think that the Russian war soon will actually happen?  And will boots on the ground be discussed at all in this next summit, or is this something that is completely off the table?  Thank you.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, thank you very much.  The U.S. does not support sending troops to fight in Ukraine.  We’ve been very clear about that on day one:  We are not interested in becoming party to this conflict, but we do want to support Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression.

And as for the security of NATO territory, again, we’ve taken countless steps to enhance deterrence and defense all up and down the eastern flank.  We have increased our troop presence across Eastern Europe.  We just finished an exercise that included 90,000 NATO troops participating in it.  So there is a lot underway to enhance our defense and deterrence, but we are not signaling to anyone that war is imminent.

In fact, as we noted in the run-up to Russia’s war in Ukraine, we look for indicators and warning.  As was the case with Ukraine, we had clear evidence in the months leading up to February of 2022 that Russia was preparing for war.  And we monitor the situation regularly, as you might imagine, to look for other indicators and warnings that Russia is preparing to do something above and beyond what it’s doing in Ukraine.  Right now we see Russia all in and engaged with this unprovoked war of aggression inside Ukraine, but we do not have indicators and warnings right now that a Russian war is imminent on NATO territory, and I really want to be clear about that.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, ma’am.  Going now to Anguelina Piskova from Bulgarian National Radio, I believe.  Anguelina, please go ahead.  Anguelina, can you hear us?

And we will move on and we will go to Darko, please.  Darko, you have the microphone.

QUESTION:  Thank you so much.  I will like to ask a question:  Does NATO have information or knowledge regarding Russian covert and destabilizing operations on Western Balkans?  How NATO is assessing that risk now in this moment?

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, NATO has had a longstanding presence in the Western Balkans.  And really since the 1990s, the Alliance has been focused on doing everything it can to provide more stability to that particular region.  It still has troops on the ground in the region, and NATO Allies just recently were able to visit Bosnia, where there is a NATO mission as well, in addition to the KFOR presence in Kosovo.

In terms of what Russia does in that neighborhood, we’ve seen for many years now kind of a classic Russian playbook where it uses an array of hybrid tactics to destabilize the region.  That’s the ultimate goal, and it uses a classic list of instruments to do that.  One of its preferred tools is the use of disinformation, which it uses widely throughout the region to divide societies from within, to divide Europe from within and how it looks at that region, to divide the United States from European allies and our friends in the Western Balkans.  So disinformation seems to be a classic play on the part of the Kremlin.

But it’s not just disinformation – we see the use, again, of cyber attacks, malicious cyber attacks, coercion, a whole array of tools that Russians use to destabilize a region that, again, the Alliance is trying very hard to do the opposite and stabilize the region.  So we carefully monitor the situation.  We work with both the NATO members that are in the neighborhood – and there are quite a few – and then we work with the aspirant, NATO-aspirant Bosnia, as well on ongoing reforms, and think about and look for ways to help them modernize their military, for example.  And then we work with other partners in the region as well.  NATO has an existing partnership with Serbia, for example.

So NATO, whether it’s engaging the actual members in the region through those channels or through its partners, this is a region that we keep a watchful eye on.  It remains a focus for us.  It is obviously tied into the work we do of monitoring Russian behavior in and around the Euro-Atlantic area and close to NATO territory.  And I don’t think anyone can say that the NATO Alliance is losing focus.  Quite the contrary, we’re very focused on the neighborhood and very focused on countering what the Russians are trying to do there.

MODERATOR:  Ambassador, I think we have time for one more question if that’s okay with you.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Sure.

MODERATOR:  Great.  So Anguelina Piskova from Bulgarian National Radio did actually submit her question.  She asks:  “Your Excellency, recently the third biggest parliamentary political party in Bulgaria, called Revival, filed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Bulgaria from the Alliance.  What is your message to such political parties and to people who believe in them?”

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Well, what I’d say at the top is Bulgaria is a really important member of this Alliance.  Its voice is heard on a daily basis.  It brings very unique and important insights from the Black Sea region into our discussions here.  We’re grateful for what Bulgaria does to contribute to NATO missions.  We’re grateful to the support that it’s able to provide to our friends in Ukraine.  I could go on and on.

But look, ultimately, Bulgaria decides for itself what kind of relationship it wants to have with the NATO Alliance.  Nothing is imposed on the people of Bulgaria.  Fortunately, the Government of Bulgaria supports its membership in this Alliance and continues to make those important contributions I just outlined.  I would just encourage those that question the utility of NATO membership to take a long hard look of how much NATO benefits the people of Bulgaria and how much Bulgaria brings to this Alliance.  It is a two-way street, one where both sides appreciate the other.  The NATO members are excited to have Bulgaria at the table, and I think it’s safe to say that my Bulgarian counterpart is excited to be there and make those important contributions each and every week.

So we obviously hope that Bulgaria will continue to be an important and valued member of this Alliance, and would encourage, again, anybody with second thoughts to take a long, hard look at just how valuable this particular relationship truly is.

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Ambassador.  Unfortunately, that is all the time we have today.  Thanks, everybody, for your questions.  And thank you especially, Ambassador Smith, for joining us.

AMBASSADOR SMITH:  Thank you very much.

MODERATOR:  Shortly – thank you, ma’am.  Shortly we will send an audio recording of the briefing to all the participating journalists and provide a transcript as soon as it is available.  We’d also love to hear your feedback, as always.  You can contact us at TheBrusselsHub@state.gov.  Thanks again, everyone, for participating today.  We – and we hope you can join us for another press briefing in the future.  This ends today’s briefing.